PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th September, 2020) France has broken its single-day national record for new COVID-19 cases for the third day in a row, as 13,498 positive tests were registered on Saturday, the country's Public Health Agency said.
The latest rise follows in the wake of the 13,215 and 10,593 new cases announced on Friday and Thursday, respectively.
Over the past 24 hours, 26 people have died in France due to complications from the disease, the Public Health Agency said.
France's COVID-19 case total now sits at 442,194 and 31,274 people have died after testing positive for the disease, the agency said.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire announced on Friday evening that he had tested positive for the disease. At the time, Le Maire said that he had gone into self-isolation in accordance with the government's coronavirus disease regulations.
On Thursday, Health Minister Olivier Veran said that several French cities were planning to tighten social distancing measures in order to curb the spread of the disease. Additional restrictions on public gatherings and the sale of alcohol were introduced in Nice one day later.
